LISTENING

For items 1–10 listen to a dialogue between a famous actor and his woman colleague and decide whether the statements 1–10 are TRUE according to the text you hear (A), or FALSE (B), or the information on the statement is NOT STATED in the text (C). You will hear the text twice.

The woman says that her colleague likes the process of film-making.

The man never drinks tea from plastic cups.

The man thinks it’s important to find a place where he could feel at home.

The man has never worked in a theatre.

The woman says that many people in the film industry become bored with their

The man says that his new film is coming soon.

The Daughter was filmed in summer.

In The Daughter the man plays a role of a Comanche.

The man is Irish.

The man thinks The Daughter is a western.

READING

Even the tactful Japanese would probably smirk or at the very least expresspuzzlement if someone told them about a ‘traditional Russian tea party’. And yet, it isa well-known fact that Russians are unstoppable in their incessant consumption oftea and in fact cannot live without it. It has become an extremely significant part ofRussian culture. Tea warms you up, wakes you up, and is nice after a big meal. Tea inRussia is not just a beverage – it’s a social activity with a long-reaching traditionbehind it. Even coffee that has been slowly but surely making inroads onto Russiantables still has not been able to replace tea. Russians will drink tea on any occasionand with no occasion whatsoever.

For the first time four pounds of tea were brought to Russia in 1638 by theRussian ambassador as a gift from the Mongol Khan for the Russian sovereign ofMoscow Michael Fyodorovich. At first the tsar and the boyars were not particularlyimpressed with the astringent and bitter drink. When all the tea presented by theMongol Khan had been drunk and the Moscow court began to forget its taste, it wasonce again the diplomats who reintroduced tea to Russia. Another Russianambassador Nicholas Spafary brought some tea from China. This time tea wasalready a known substance in Moscow and in 1679 a contract was entered into withChina under which the Chinese were to supply Russia with dried tea. After that,caravans carrying tea began regular journeys from the Great Wall of China to thewalls of the Moscow Kremlin.

However, the new beverage took quite some time to grow on Russians, who atfirst viewed it with suspicion as they did with everything that originated abroad. Inaddition, Chinese tea was too expensive while Russian herbal teas, such as cranberry,currant, briar, and sweet lime were always easy to get. And it was only by the early18th century that tea had been fully accepted in Russian households and become anational drink.

An indispensable component of a Russian tea party is the samovar. Samovars are tea poetry; they come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Many of them are true works of art. A samovar is always placed in the middle of the table. It commonly has curved shapes suggesting warmth and kindness. While water is boiling inside the samovar and smoke is coming off the top of it, its sides reflect the people around the table, adding a surreal feel to the gathering. Samovars are usually heated up using charcoal and sometimes even fir cones. The slightly bitter aroma of the smoke relaxes and soothes those present. In addition to good looks and efficiency, samovars were always valued for their sound. When the water starts boiling a samovar would announce it with its own unique “song” that would add to the cosiness and intimacy of the occasion.

When you’re invited for tea in Russia, you can almost always expect to eat. Guests are offered several types of jam, honey, cakes, pies, chocolates and other sweets. Often you also get sandwiches, light salads, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything is served on ornate plates and dishes.

It is almost an insult not to offer tea to someone who came by your house, as it is an insult to refuse it when offered. In some parts of the former Soviet Union, especially in the North Caucasus region and Central Asia, the amount and quality of the food served when drinking tea indicates a level of respect that a host has for a guest, and it’s not uncommon for relationships to go sour just because only jam and sugar were served during tea.

There is a story about how in 1802 Prince Shakhovskoy met J.W. Goethe in a hotel in Munich. The famous German poet invited the Prince for tea. Having arrived and seeing that there was nothing but tea on the table, the Prince ordered sandwiches and some pastries without further ado. The two spent a most pleasant evening talking about German and Russian literature. To Shakhovskoy’s surprise, the next day he got a bill for the food he had ordered, which J.W. Goethe refused to pay, since he had only invited the Prince for tea.

There is another tradition that foreigners often fail to understand: Russians drink tea from glasses, which they put in special glass holders. This tradition dates back to the 17th and 18th century teahouses and it was only in the early 19th century that it was picked up by the commoners. Expensive glass holders were usually made from silver, the more commonplace glass holders were made primarily from alloys of nickel and silver. The finely decorated holders were used both for esthetic and practical purposes preventing the palms from direct contact with hot tea. Today almost nobody will drink tea from glasses at home and yet it has still survived on trains. It is a special unique kind of pleasure to drink hot tea from a glass in a glass holder sitting in the car of a long distance train and looking out at the landscapes speeding past outside!

Task 1. Questions 1–8

In boxes 1–8 on your answer sheet, circle: A (TRUE) if the statement agrees with the information given in the text; B (FALSE) if the statement contradicts the information given in the text or if there is no information given in the text.

Tea and coffee are equally favoured by the Russian people.

Russians indulge in having tea whenever the opportunity affords itself.

The Russians instantly favoured the peculiar flavour of the new beverage.

Envoys introduced the new beverage to Russia twice.

Tea drinking gradually evolved into a kind of social ceremony.

The Russian samovar was a symbol of prosperity, well-being, and comfort.

Water in samovars is boiled ahead of time and just warmed up afterwards.

Task 2. Questions 11–20

For items 11–20, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. Use from three to five words. The number of words you should put in the gap is specified in each case. Do NOT use contracted forms. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example: 0. “Let’s go to the cinema on Sunday,” said Ann.

wanted

Ann_____ _____ ____ ____ to the cinema on Sunday. (4 words)

0

wanted us to go

Betty was the only one who didn’t enjoy the performance.

apart

Everyone enjoyed the performance ____ ____ ___. (3 words)

The price of the meal includes dessert.

is

The dessert ___ ___ ___ the price of the meal. (3 words)

My sister is too short to be a basketball player.

not

My sister ____ ___ ___ ___ to be a basketball player. (4 words)

I have to clean up the studio before I can leave.

until

I cannot _____ ____ ____ ____ cleaned up the studio. (4 words)

She regrets not having gone to university.

wishes

She ___ ___ ___ ___ to university. (4 words)

She isn’t repainting the kitchen until Monday.

being

The kitchen ___ ___ ___ ___ until Monday. (4 words)

Everyone left except for Mike.

exception

With ___ ___ ___ ___ , everyone left. (4 words)

The fridge is completely empty.

left

There ___ ___ ___ ___ the fridge. (4 words)

They’ve only got half the boys they need to make up a team.

twice

They need ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ they’ve got to make up a team. (5 words)

Audioscript

For items 1–10 listen to a dialogue between a famous actor and his woman colleague and decide whether the statements 1–10 are TRUE according to the text you hear (A), or FALSE (B), or the information on the statement is NOT STATED in the text (C). You will hear the text twice. You have 20 seconds to look through the statements.

(pause 20 seconds)

Now we begin

She: I’ve never met anybody who enjoys every moment of making a movie as muchas you. You don’t stress out too much, you’re always in a good mood. And you havelittle rituals throughout the day, which you do with a lot of style – almost like you arecelebrating life, not just the work. You have to have your special cup of tea, in nicechina, not Styrofoam.

He: What are you saying, please?

She: [laughs] It’s lovely! You don’t drink it as you’re walking, like the rest of us. Youfind a nice corner to read in.

He: That’s true. You’ve got to find your camp. We set up homes constantly – a newtrailer, a new set, a new country – so you have to find that space. I suppose there arerituals, but I think that comes from the theater. Before all of this started, I wasworking in the theater. I ended up in Los Angeles for two weeks and stayed alifetime.

She: A lot of people in our business get jaded, but you don’t. Why not?

He: Because, for me at least, it doesn’t get any easier. I have The Daughter comingout, and we’re getting close to showing the world what we did last year in Texas. Thatside of it is out of my control, but this is always an anxious time for me.

She: Tell me about The Daughter.

He: I play Colonel Eli McCullough, a man born out of violence. His parents werepioneers, annihilated by the Comanche. He was kidnapped and brought up by theComanche. So there’s a duality to the man’s psyche, a fractured mind and heart. Wefind him as a man in 1915 in Texas.

She: When you were doing theater in London as a young Irish lad, did you everimagine you’d be playing a Texan?

He: I grew up in an Irish farming town, but cowboys and Indians were the fabric of mylife as a young lad. My grandmother used to have this family come around to the house,Ma Butchey and her two sons. She would sharpen the knives and fix the pots, and hersons would teach me how to make the best bows and arrows and catapults. So it’s alwaysbeen in my heart to play in a western. But this is not really a western; it’s a family saga.